


To All The Boys (But Especially You)

by vivinaked61



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Byun Baekhyun Being Dumb, Byun Baekhyun-centric, ChanBaek - Freeform, Chanbaek are childhood friends, Childhood Friends, Confused Byun Baekhyun, Confused Park Chanyeol, EXO Ensemble - Freeform, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, IDK what I'm tagging, Inspired by To All The Boys I've Loved Before, M/M, Minor Byun Baekhyun/Oh Sehun, Park Chanyeol Being Dumb, Soft Park Chanyeol, Sweet Park Chanyeol, chanbaek au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:41:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29802384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivinaked61/pseuds/vivinaked61
Summary: In all his seventeen years Baekhyun had only ever fallen in love five times. For each love he wrote a letter with unexplored emotions, but Baekhyun never wanted any of his crushes to ever read their letter.Things become complicated when each letter is mailed out and Baekhyun has a lot of explaining to do.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 6
Kudos: 61





	1. Read First

I do not allow or tolerate any plagiarism of any of my works. My works are not to be copied or posted on any other platform or account, I do not allow translations of my works either. All of my works will be and are only posted on this account here. If in the case there is plagiarism occurring, action can and will be taken against you.

This story is inspired by the Netflix movie trilogy 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before' and all credits go to the author of the original novels. This story is mainly based off of the movies.

Hi! This is my first full length fanfic and here are some of the songs I listened to while writing this that helped me get into the vibe (?) of the story lmao. They're mainly soft R&B songs (some are from the TATB movies too) so if that's your kind of music I recommend you give these a listen!

  * Lauv - I Like Me Better
  * RiRi- Luv Luv
  * PARKMOONCHI x Young K of DAY6 - What A Wonderful Word
  * Rheehab and Nason - No Lie
  * Ruel - Face To Face
  * Amin and THAMA - Your Love
  * SOLE - Slow
  * COLDE - A Song Nobody Knows
  * Sam Kim - Sunny Days, Summer Nights
  * JUNNY - Thank You
  * Amin - STAY (Feat. SFC.JGR)
  * ZICO - Soulmate (Feat. IU)
  * Leah Nobel - Beginning Middle End



Thank you and happy reading! ♡


	2. ♡

\- ♡ -

“Why do you have so much junk in your room?”

Baekhyun looked over at Chanyeol who dramatically dumped a box labelled ‘clothing’ into the car trunk. The warm weather made the sweat on his neck glisten when his back was turned.

“It’s just clothes, I thought you went to the gym? Walking granola bar…”, Baekhyun rolled his eyes and went back to bending over and arranging the wrapped vases into their own boxes, ignoring Chanyeol yelling _’better than the junk you eat!’_. He was closing the box as a soft voice called out for him.

“Hey, Baekhyun.”

He snapped up so quickly at sound of his neighbour speaking to him, his lips parted awkwardly like the words were stuck in his throat. Joohyuk, his neighbour for the last four years was still as handsome as ever and sickeningly sweet in every situation. His hair was slightly messy and he wore his grey shirt with the green number 74, it was one he wore often and happened to be one of Baekhyun’s favourite shirts on him.

“Hey Joohyuk- H-how are you?”, Baekhyun mentally facepalmed himself, already knowing that Chanyeol would be snickering to himself in the background.

Joohyuk smiled warmly, resembling something that was brighter than the blazing sun behind him in Baekhyun’s eyes.

“I’m good, what about you? I’m bummed that you’re moving, you won’t forget me right?”

_‘How could I when I was in love with you.’_

“Of course not!”, a second mental facepalm was earned from Baekhyun’s overly excited tone, “When I come to visit I’ll say hi.”.

“I hope so.”, Joohyuk had a toothy grin and his eyes crinkled in a way that made Baekhyun’s chest squeeze.

It was downright strange how Baekhyun no longer harboured an all consuming love for the guy yet he was always nervous around him. Joohyuk’s dazzling smile warmed Baekhyun’s chest, but the arm suddenly wrapped around his shoulder made him feel cold and left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Joohyuk you got so tall, weren’t you half my height the last time I saw you? Like, two years ago? I came over here a lot but I barely see you.”

Chanyeol just had to ruin the moment- if it was even considered a moment, his long limbs poking their way into Baekhyun’s business every time he was around. JooHyuk just nodded and laughed, shrugging nonchalantly. Baekhyun saw how his smile was so wide, so impossibly perfect and his disheveled hair made the look complete somehow.

“Guess my growth spurt kicked in the second you left that summer.”, Joohyuk’s eyes grazed over Baekhyun before looking behind him and smiling before bowing out of politeness.

“Hi Mrs Byun.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol looked behind and saw the woman wiping one of their old antique bowls, one Baekhyun was never allowed to eat out of or take out from the ridiculously shiny display in the living room.

“Oh, hello Joohyuk! Goodness, you look so handsome today. Baekhyun, did you finish packing your room yet?”, she asked from inside the house before a crash was heard, most likely his dad trying to lift the fifteen feet vase in the living room that he boasted he could ‘throw like a feather’.

He smiled shyly at Joohyuk who looked concerned by the noise, “Well, there goes another vase… I should continue helping, it was good to see you and I’ll keep in touch, or let you know when I’m back.”.

He passive aggressively threw Chanyeol’s arm off his shoulder and hurried back into the house, patting his chest to calm his heartbeat when he was safely hidden behind the empty wall of the entrance. 

_‘After all this time you still make my heart beat unnecessarily fast.’_

Baekhyun smiled to himself, shaking his head and walking into the living room which felt impossibly empty since they were almost done packing everything. Walking past the mess and snickering under his breath from his dad’s excuse to his scolding mom that _'the vase was slippery!’_ , he saw his little sister laying on the couch with protective sheets, scrolling on her phone. As he passed her he ruffled her hair and smiled when she hummed in acknowledgement with a lazy wave.

While folding the remaining clothes from his closet, he heard footsteps and the sound of someone throwing themselves on the bed, sighing in a very Chanyeol- like manner.

“If you’re going to laze around while I pack, can’t you do it downstairs?”

Channel sat up and hummed, pretending to think, “Nah. I put all the heavy stuff away, shouldn’t you be thanking me?”.

“I don’t know, I expected you to be looking in our fridge for pie right now.”

“First of all, I helped move the fridge this morning so it’s gone, but there’s pie?”

Baekhyun turned around and threw a hoodie at the him, being annoyed when Chanyeol caught it easily and laughed. He stood up and walked into the closet, squatting to be the same level with Baekhyun.

“You have so many clothes, this is like the ninth box of yours just full of sweatshirts and pink hoodies.”, Chanyeol glanced around and unhelpfully touched things scattered around like tape and Baekhyun’s hello kitty scissors.

_‘What a child.’_ , Baekhyun rolled his eyes and continued putting tape over the box until he heard Chanyeol shaking something.

“What’s this?”

Chanyeol held a blue hatbox, it had a lavish bow on top and was about to be opened by the nosy walking tree. Even Soo Ah didn’t snoop around as much as he did.

“No, no, no- Give me that!”

Baekhyun lunged forward and snatched the box away, holding it to his chest protectively and glaring at Chanyeol who innocently held his hands up in surrender.

“Fuck, chill I just wanted to see what was in there- What are you hiding? Now you have to show me if you’re gonna react like that!”

Baekhyun shook his head and put it in the box with his clothes before taping it again, of all people he did not want Chanyeol to see what was in that box. But did he have to be such a kid and touch everything? Since they were young Chanyeol always went out of his way to piss Baekhyun off but when Baekhyun’s family moved he got the chance of having peace and quiet (apart from when he and his family came over on random days for dinner), even if it was only for four years.

It wasn’t about to last for much longer.

“Well, since we’re gonna be neighbours anyways I’ll find out soon. Better sleep with one eye open, Byun!”

“If you’re gonna keep yapping on can you pass me my headphones?”

Baekhyun finished the last box and lifted it up, huffing since his hoodies were thick and made the box heavier than necessary. Chanyeol quietly sighed and stole the box away, holding it with ease and displaying a smug smile.

“When you guys get settled in I’m taking you to the gym with me, the only thing I’ve seen you lift with ease today was that donut.”

Baekhyun smacked his arm and pushed Chanyeol out of his now officially empty closet, he didn’t take his comment to heart because he knew Chanyeol’s humour was never offensive intentionally, he never meant most of the things he said.

“You ate five, I ate one, piggy.”

“Seriously though, what’s in that box? Is it some type of secret weapon? Is it nudes!”

Baekhyun laughed this time, leaning in close and looking around like he didn’t want someone to hear what he was about to say.

“Actually, it’s my secret weapon. Wanna know what it is?”

Chanyeol raised a brow and nodded frantically, bending his knees to reach Baekhyun’s level but cried out in pain when he just pinched his ear.

“It’s got my special Chanyeol- repellant spray, I plan to use it when we get to the house.”

\- ♡ -

In all his seventeen years Baekhyun had only ever fallen in love five times. For each love and unexplored emotions he wrote a letter, but Baekhyun never wanted any of his crushes to ever read theirs.

There were five letters in total:

1) Kim Jongin from camp

2) Xu Minghao from debate club

3) Oh Sehun who he’s known since preschool

4) Park Chanyeol the most popular guy at school and Baekhyun’s childhood nuisuence

5) Nam Joohyuk who was his neighbour for the past four years

No one knew of the letters and their existence, it was for the purpose of him reading over once in a while and laughing over how invested he used to be in these little crushes. Sometimes he wondered what would have happened if each crush received their letter, but he was positive that would never happen.

\- ♡ -

Baekhyun’s new room felt a lot less new than it should be, it was his old room he had when he was a kid. Walking back into the house he grew up in was strange, it felt foreign but at the same time welcoming. He didn’t spend much time deciding where to put his things or how to arrange his room since it was the same layout as before. Although the minimal walls and many, many plants showed more maturity than his toy story themed room when he was eleven did.

He was upset to be moving, but felt ease when he knew it was to the place he was familiar with and he knew most people there, but of course he felt nervous whether they even remembered him or how much they’ve changed in the last four years. Would anyone even care that he was back?

While laying in his bed two days after officially being unpacked and moved into their new (old) house, he remembered Joohyuk and the way he smiled when Baekhyun said he would visit him if he came back. He definitely hoped he could come back soon one day.

He pushed the happy thought of Joohyuk aside and wondered how his first day of school would go tomorrow, he hoped some people would still recognise him and not make it awkward enough that he felt the need to introduce himself as a completely new person. Earlier his mom gave him his uniform he’d have to wear, a weird feeling of foreignness and nostalgia came over him because he’d seen so many pictures of Chanyeol and his old friends wearing the uniform. It was nice to think he would be a part of that soon, he just had the cliche worry of whether he’d actually fit in or belong.

The next day was a sunny one, Baekhyun noticed how clear the blue sky was as he ate his breakfast in front of the large window. While eating his cereal he saw a large black car pull up in front of his house, followed by the unpleasant surprise of Chanyeol stepping out of it. He held his blazer over this shoulder while his white button up shirt had the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up.

“What’s Chanyeol doing here, and where’s Soo Ah?”, Baekhyun got up from the table and put his bowl and utensils in the sink while his mom left the kitchen to open the door.

“She left early to walk to school with some friends and catch up. Chanyeol’s driving you to school, he offered yesterday, don’t you remember? Good morning Chanyeol! You look so grown up in your uniform, have you eaten?”, Baekhyun internally rolled his eyes at how his mom loved Chanyeol and thought anything he did was the lord’s blessing.

He was happy Soo Ah kept in contact with her friends over the years and was welcomed back with open arms, he wasn’t sure that would be the case for himself.

“Morning Mrs Byun, I already ate but thank you. Is Baekhyun ready?”

Baekhyun grabbed his bag pack and said bye to his dad who was busy reading a news article online and responded with a murmured bye and small wave. He was in Chanyeol’s view as he put his shoes on, choosing not to listen in on his mom’s comments of how Chanyeol became so much more handsome than she remembered.

“Baekhyun, maybe after school you can practice driving with Soo Ah.”

Baekhyun shook his head at his mom’s suggestion, “The last time I drove with her she wore a helmet and bubble wrapped herself, no thank you.”.

“Can’t blame her, you also almost ran me over once.”, Chanyeol teased.

Mrs Byun just laughed as Baekhyun finished tying his shoes and made his way out.

“Okay, ready. I’ll see you after school mom.”, he waved as he walked to Chanyeol’s car, being surprised that the taller hadn’t initiated conversation yet.

When they were both seated in the car and Baekhyun reached back to grab the seatbelt, only then did the blabbering begin.

“It’s weird to see you in my uniform, I bet everyone’s gonna be surprised when they see you.”, Chanyeol started the engine and drove off, stealing a few glances from Baekhyun and liking how impressed the smaller looked at his car.

“Hm, it felt weird putting it on. Your car is nice, no wonder you bragged about it so much over summer.”

“Well thank you very much, even the tough Byun Baekhyun can’t deny how spectacular this fine machinery is.”

“Okay Shakespeare. I said the car is nice, not that you were.”, Baekhyun’s playful tone was followed by a light smack on Chanyeol’s arm which the driver didn’t even flinch or respond to.

As Chanyeol circled the wheel to turn, a glistening on his wrist caught his eye. It was the silver chain bracelet Baekhyun picked out for his birthday two years ago, the giant swore to never take it off since it was a product of ‘one of the few moments you’re being nice to me’ as Chanyeol called it.

“You still wear that?”

Chanyeol glanced to his wrist where Beakhyun motioned to and nodded, “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”.

Baekhyun shrugged and looked out the window to hide the small smile tugging at his lips, sometimes Chanyeol said things that made him feel weird.

“Kyungsoo still goes there, right?”, Baekhyun asked a little quietly.

Chanyeol’s attention was still on the road, but he nodded and shot Baekhyun a quick ‘obviously’ look.

“Of course, why would we still be together if he didn’t go here? He hasn’t changed much, still short and even shorter tempered than ever- Don’t tell him I said that.”, Chanyeol pulled up in a parking spot and switched the engine off, grabbing his bag from the backseat and ruffling his hair in the rearview mirror, showing Baekhyun his million dollar smile.

“How do I look?”

“Like a Chanyeol. Thanks for the ride, I’ll see you around.”, Baekhyun opened the door to step down from the ridiculously high vehicle but Chanyeol held him back from the fabric of his blazer.

“Woah, woah, my parents told me to show you around, I don’t need you getting lost and going home crying. Then I’ll end up in trouble.”

Baekhyun turned to Chanyeol and sighed, fixing his blazer and about to say his usual snarky comment along the lines of ‘quit annoying me, Park’ but a very familiar, and very angry, looking face stood outside Chanyeol’s side of the car.

“I think you’re in trouble…”

Chanyeol looked out his window and smiled charmingly before stepping out of his car. The shorter male looked beyond pissed and only spared a glare as Chanyeol wrapped his arms around his waist, kissing his lips.

“Why so grumpy, babe?”

The smaller male looked up and lightly hit Chanyeol’s chest, “I waited for you and you didn’t text me how long you’d take to get here. Why did you drive him?”.

“Baby, I told you already that I had to give him a ride. I’m just doing my parents a favour.”

Baekhyun didn’t want to be involved and tried to stay invisible as he stepped down from the car, but as he walked past them Chanyeol’s little boyfriend called out for him.

“Baekhyun, hey. Long time no see.”

Baekhyun turned to Kyungsoo, feeling uncomfortable from the way Chanyeol’s arm was around his shoulders and his smaller hand holding Chanyeol’s which was dangling from the side.

“Hey, it’s good to see you.”, Baekhyun’s voice was a little tense but the way Kyungsoo was obviously looking at something on his bag made him feel small.

“Nice keychain, did you pick up a job at a toy store?”

Baekhyun looked down at the keychain attached to his bag, it was a bumblebee with heart shaped rosy cheeks he received from his older brother Baekbeom before he left for college last year.

“It was a gift, but anyways I’ll see you around.”, he walked off and hoped Chanyeol wouldn’t insist on showing him around, but he doubted Kyungsoo would like that anyways.

Kyungsoo hated Baekhyun to the very core, ever since Chanyeol kissed him in a game of truth or dare when they were thirteen. Kyungsoo had the biggest crush on Chanyeol when they were young, he was always jealous of Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s friendship (even when Baekhyun explained they weren’t really friends but two people forced to hang out because of their parents). The day Baekhyun moved everyone came over to say goodbye except Kyungsoo, the cold looks he received when he came to visit the next summer confirmed that they were no longer friends as Baekhyun thought.

The morning passed but Baekhyun hated having all eyes on him when he introduced himself to the class, more than half the students mumbling something about knowing him or thinking he looked so familiar. He was the last to leave the class and headed to the cafeteria but mainly to see what it looked like, he followed a bunch of students yelling and shouting about the day’s menu having pizza so he figured he was heading to the right place. Once he arrived he felt overwhelmed by how crowded the place was, of course like every typical high school movie there were different areas for different groups to sit or hang out.

He caught a glimpse of Chanyeol at a crowded table with his arm around Kyungsoo while the couple laughed at something. Baekhyun didn’t believe Chanyeol when he claimed to be wildly popular but judging from the way everyone was fawning over him, it was more than true.

Chanyeol looked over and made eye contact with him, waving him over subtly to which Baekhyun just shook his head and smiled thinly before turning around and leaving. He didn’t want to go through the ‘new kid doesn’t know where to sit at lunch’ part of his day so he made his way to where the football field was, seeing some empty benches and situating himself on one.

He took out his schedule and his small lunch box, seeing a note attached on top of it. He quietly laughed to himself when reading the scribbled _‘Have a good day Tiger - Dad’_ and smiley face at the end.

His mom was more expressive with her emotions and made it her daily mission to verbally smother her children with affection, his dad preferred to show his love through little actions and many, many, lunch box notes over the years.

“Hey, is this seat taken?”

Baekhyun looked up while chewing his carrot and saw someone who was quite tall speaking to him, he nodded and motioned to the empty spot beside him, “Oh, sure.”.

The stranger sat down and offered a smile, extending his hand out and looking into Baekhyun’s eyes for a little longer than he would have been comfortable with. Baekhyun shook his hand and flashed a bright smile.

“I’m- Wait… Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun widened his eyes a little and tilted his head, “You know me?”.

“It’s me, Sehun- I knew it was you from that mole above your lip.”

Baekhyun’s lips parted and he laughed, “Sehun? You got really tall, I didn’t recognise you for a second.”.

Sehun smiled and leaned back on his palms, “This is crazy, you moved like four years ago but it feels like forever. I had no idea you came back, it’s good to see you.”.

“It’s good to see you too, my dad got a new job and our old house was closer to it so we moved back. Carrot?”

Sehun looked at the little container with perfectly cut carrot pieces and chuckled before accepting a piece, “You still eat like a bunny.”.

“Hey, raw veggies are good!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m really shocked to see you though, you could have texted me, you know.”

Baekhyun nodded a little and gave an apologetic smile, he still had everyone’s numbers but was afraid to get in touch because he got so busy over the years that he was afraid everyone else was too, he didn’t want to intrude or put pressure on anyone to keep in contact with him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know if you all still wanted to talk to me. I mean, I talk to Chanyeol more than I’d like to- But I thought you guys would all be busy.”

“We never changed, Baek. Not sure I can speak for everyone else but I haven’t.”

It felt nice to be called by his nickname, especially coming from Sehun who he was once close to.

The rest of lunch resulted in the two catching up and laughing over things they did in preschool together, Baekhyun found out that Sehun isn’t as close to Chanyeol as he was before and that he’s on the school’s basketball team. He also was informed about the rumour of Kyungsoo liking someone who was in college, most of the school was talking about it but he never heard anything about it from Chanyeol. Normally when Chanyeol came over to his house he would talk all about his relationship and charismatic school persona (even when Baekhyun told him to shut up and threw pillows at him), so he wondered why Chanyeol didn’t say anything.

\- ♡ -

Later that evening Chanyeol and his parents came over for dinner, after stuffing himself with food he was on his bed doing an assignment, the first of many he had to complete. As he was typing there were footsteps coming closer to his door and he already knew who they belonged to.

“You suck at Mario Kart! How does it feel to be beaten by a twelve year old?”

Baekhyun laughed under his breathe at Soo Ah’s taunting, he wasn’t even phased by the two barging in and making themselves comfortable in his room since it happened every time Chanyeol was over.

“Okay, I admit it hurts my pride just a little. But when I come over again get ready to cry. Baekhyun you should have played with us, I’m sure it’s easier to beat you than Soo Ah.”

Baekhyun sat up and raised a brow, “Ha ha. Wait, does this mean you’ll be coming over more since you live five minutes away now?”

“I hope so!”, Soo Ah chirped up as she made her way into baekhyun’s closet, “Baekhyun, can I borrow your black hoodie? The classroom is cold since they refuse to turn off the AC.”.

“Hey at least you’re cool on a hot day, wait till you get to high school and there’s no central heating during the winter.”, Chanyeol leaned back on Baekhyun’s pillows.

Baekhyun nodded at his sister, “Knock yourself out. Take only one, Kitty.”.

“Why is it up so high! Baek!”

Baekhyun got up to help but heard his mom calling for him downstairs to do the dishes since it was his turn today.

“Coming! Kitty, ask Chanyeol to get it for you, I’ll be right back.”

Baekhyun headed downstairs leaving the two alone in his room and Soo Ah sighed with her hand on her hip.

“We need to get him a hobby or something, don’t you think?”

Chanyeol laughed and nodded, “You and I think alike. So which hoodie did you want?”.

\- ♡ -

Baekhyun was out of breath and hunched over before a hand landed on his back in support.

“Come on, Baekhyun! If you give up how am I supposed to go on?”, Minseok exclaimed while gasping for air.

Minseok was a student who approached Baekhyun when their gym class teacher told them to partner up, he was also technically new too since he transferred over a month ago, Baekhyun was more than happy to make a new friend.

He caught his breath and was amazed at how some of the other students were still running at full speed, most others slumping behind and complaining the whole way.

“Is that Chanyeol? Whatever, I’ll be in the nurse’s office if you need me, anything’s better than running another lap. See you later, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun nodded and waved as Minseok walked off the track, he saw Chanyeol approaching him in their normal uniform rather than gym clothes.

“What are you doing here?”

Chanyeol shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky longingly.

“Lovely day we’re having, don’t you think, Byun?”

“Cut to the chase, Park. What do you want?”

The taller looked down to make eye contact with Baekhyun, “Kyungsoo and I broke up.”.

Baekhyun almost choked on his saliva, he didn’t know what to do. Should he give him a hug or ask if he’s okay? Why did he come all the way to the field to find Baekhyun and tell him this?

“What happened?”

Chanyeol sighed through his nose, “He apparently likes this guy who’s in college, I confronted him about it cause I was sick of all the rumours and guess it’s true. He dumped me. Can you even believe that?”.

As Chanyeol spoke, Baekhyun saw Sehun walking towards the tracks with something in his hand and a dazed look on his face. As he got closer Baekhyun hoped his eyes were playing tricks on him.

In Sehun’s hand was a letter with patterns Baekhyun recognised as the same ones on the envelopes he used.

It was the love letter he wrote for him.

“No, no, no…”

“Woah, Baekhyun what’s wrong?”

Chanyeol crouched down when Baekhyun fell down on his butt, he didn’t expect to be pulled in for a kiss by the smaller a second later.

They both fell backwards onto the floor and Chanyeol mumbled protests against Baekhyun’s lips, only when Baekhyun’s gym teacher told them to cut it out did he realise what was happening. When they pulled apart Baekhyun got up and ran away from the tracks and past Sehun who was stunned and stuck to his current spot.

Baekhyun ran faster than he did when he was on the tracks, dashing into the bathroom and locking himself in a stall while trying to calm his breathing.

‘ _How did Sehun get my letter? Did someone send it? It’s still in my box, right?’_

Baekhyun gripped his hair and hit his head on the wall when coming to the realisation that he kissed Chanyeol. The sound of the bathroom door opening cut him away from his thoughts but the calling of his name made his heart start to squeeze nervously.

“Baekhyun?”

“Uhm, he’s not here?”

“Okay, sorry. I saw just you run in here and wanted to make sure you were okay. I also thought you’d like this back.”

A hand slid a letter under Baekhyun’s stall and his nightmare of a day became a lot worse when he saw who the letter was addressed to and who it was from:

_Xu Minghao._

_From Baekhyun_

He wished he forgot what he wrote, but he knew exactly what he wrote for every letter and cursed himself for being so invested in every damn emotion he felt.

_‘Dear Minghao,_

_First of all you’re so smart, out of everyone in our school I think you’re the most special. The way you’re so passionate and driven in debate club is so admirable to me, I’m too shy to actually talk about my chosen topics but every time Miss Cho asks who wants to start a debate your hand goes up straight away. You make me want to be a more outspoken person._

_But you’re so mysterious, you don’t talk to everyone but when you do you’re kind and respectful. You wear really smart clothes to school, even though we all wear the same uniform you make it look even more sophisticated. Sometimes you look like you’re the president and your friends are your body guards, I like to think._

_Minghao, I wish I knew what kind of person you liked. I wish I could be that person. I don’t know much about you apart from the fact that you’re unbelievably intelligent and that you like to eat a lot of the spicy chicken they have for lunch on Tuesdays._

_I really liked the story you wrote in English the other day, it was so keen and so amazingly written! The way you wrote it from the perspective of the ‘beast’ was so unique. I think you should turn it into a full series, I would love to read it._

_I hope to maybe get to know you more in the future, or maybe not just pass by each other so quickly, maybe we can smile at each other._

_Love, Baekhyun’_

Baekhyun thinned his lips and gripped his hair even harder.

“It seemed personal, I thought you should have it back.”

This time Baekhyun left the stall, although catching a glimpse of his cherry red cheeks and messy hair in the mirror made him want to hide again. Minghao grew up well from what he was seeing, his hair was a dyed red styled to perfection. He was undoubtedly handsome as he always was.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. You… You weren’t meant to ever get this- I wrote it a long time ago.”

“Figures, don’t worry about it. Just to put it out there, I’m currently trying to win someone over- Not that I’m not flattered. Really, I am. And thank you.”

Baekhyun kindly smiled and nodded, relieved that Minghao was being understanding about it, he accepted the letter from the other’s hand and felt satisfied in knowing he hadn’t completely embarrassed himself today. He was just stuck on how he was gong to face Chanyeol and Sehun.

\- ♡ -

Baekhyun ran home, he wasn’t sure if all the energy he had was because of the practice in gym class or because he had so many possibilities swirling around in his mind. When he came home he slammed the door and almost tripped on his way up the stairs to his room, not even noticing his mom in the kitchen or Soo Ah on the couch, both looking at him strangely.

“Well, hello to you too!”

“Hello!”

Baekhyun mindlessly yelled back in response to his mom before opening the door to his closet. He saw on his top shelf a missing spot where his hatbox should be, he could have sworn he put it there when unpacking.

He let out a scream which made his mom drop the spoon she was using to mix a sauce with.

“Goodness! Baekhyun are you alright?”

“He probably got a pimple or something.”, Soo Ah waved it off as Mrs Byun wiped where she spilled the sauce.

Baekhyun stormed down the stairs and went straight to his mom.

“Mom, where’s my blue box? It’s very important, it was in my room on a shelf but now it’s gone, why is it gone!”

Mrs Byun looked lost and just blinked unknowingly, “I’m sorry honey, I don’t know where it is- We gave a lot of stuff to charity, maybe it went in with some of those boxes? Oh, but you got a letter in the mail today.”.

“This is the worst day ever, I hate everything!”

Baekhyun took the letter from the counter, groaning and dragging himself up the stairs dramatically, unaware of the slightly guilty look on Soo Ah’s face.

“Teenagers, it never get’s easier.”, Mrs Byun sighed to herself.

\- ♡ -

Baekhyun wanted to cry but nothing was coming out, instead he felt an unnerving tingling feeling that he absolutely hated. The letter he received in the mail was his letter to Kim Jongin from summer camp, luckily the letter was addressed to one of the bunkers so he didn’t get it. Baekhyun didn’t know his real address which was some place in London since he didn’t live in Korea.

_‘Nice, Baekhyun.’_

Having kissed Chanyeol was the least of his worries, it’s not like he was still dating Kyungsoo and if he explained why he kissed him Chanyeol would probably turn it into a stupid joke and forget it after a week. The real problem was Sehun and how Baekhyun was going to explain himself. 

Surely there was nothing to be embarrassed about. He wrote Sehun’s letter so long ago, it’s not like he still felt that way- Right? The way he smiled at lunch was so cute and he's always so sweet, always knowing what to say.

Baekhyun yelled into a pillow when the words he wrote in the poor guy’s letter resurfaced in his mind.

He was so dead. 

He hit himself with the pillow a good few times for being so stupid and letting the letters go into a charity box and get mailed out by whatever demon that saw them. 

_‘Who see’s a letter and their first thought is ‘This should be mailed!’?’_

So far Kim Jongin was off the list since he never got his, he hoped Nam Joohyuk never got his, Oh Sehun obviously got his (and the view of him on top of Chanyeol) and Xu Minghao was a sweetheart who returned his. 

Park Chanyeol was the only one left.

After staring at the ceiling for over ten minutes, hoping, it would fall on him, Baekhyun realised that Chanyeol told him something important.

He and Kyungsoo broke up.

Was that rumour about Kyungsoo and this guy from college true? He wondered why Chanyeol would even bother to tell him, he never showed any interest in their relationship before anyways. 

Wait, did Chanyeol even get his letter? Of course not, he was acting so casual. If he did Baekhyun had no doubt he would have started teasing him and parading the letter itself in front of his face.

_‘Great, now I have to move again.’_

\- ♡ -

Baekhyun’s parents refused to move houses again because Baekhyun’s reasoning of ‘ _we have to, there are so many reasons!’_ just wasn’t good enough. After another teenage tantrum in his room he left the house saying he wanted some fresh air. When walking down old streets and parks that brought back sentiment he spotted a diner. It was the one his parents would take him and his siblings to on the weekends when no one wanted to cook.

Hearing the jingle as he opened the door brought a fuzzy feeling, he sat down at the counter and looked through the menu, nothing changed. They still had only three selections of milkshakes and Baekhyun knew he was going to get strawberry as he always did as a kid. 

“Byun, what a small world.”

_‘For the love of fuck.’_

“Hey… you.”, Baekhyun offered an awkward smile while Chanyeol just made a face and leaned on his palm.

“We need to talk about why you jumped me.”

Before Baekhyun could think of his answer a waitress approached them behind the counter, giving Baekhyun a few more valuable seconds to think of a valid excuse for Chanyeol.

“What can I get you kids?”

Baekhyun closed the menu and ordered a strawberry milkshake while Chanyeol got his usual chocolate shake.

“Okay, look. I kissed you because I had to make it seem like I didn’t like someone else. That’s the reason, so let’s not talk about it ever again.”

“Wait, who? Seriously, you could have said something like, _‘hey I’m gonna kiss you now’_ before almost breaking my tooth.”

Baekhyun bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, going back to tugging on his hair in stress.

“God, don’t do that. You have nice hair, you’ll ruin it.”, Chanyeol reached over and pulled his hand away before scooting closer.

“It’s Oh Sehun.”

Chanyeol choked a little on his drink, “Sehun? Seriously? You like him?”.

“No! Something happened which made it look like I did like him but I kissed you to make him think that I didn’t like him- Cause I don’t!”

“I did not comprehend that. What happened that would make him think you liked him?”

Baekhyun chewed his straw and sighed, “I wrote him a love letter.”.

Chanyeol’s expression worried Baekhyun since it was so unresponsive, “And?”.

“I wrote it a long time ago, and he was never meant to get it so I panicked and your face was right there…”

Chanyeol threw his back in a little laugh, not in a mockingly but in a way that Baekhyun knew he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“He wasn’t the only one who got a letter- It was all by accident, I think all five were all accidentally mailed out.”

“Woah, you wrote five love letters? Sehun probably thought he was real special for a second...”

_‘You definitely never got your letter. Thank god.’,_ Baekhyun thought.

“So who got a letter?”

“If I tell you will we stop talking about it?”

“Maybe.”

“Okay, Xu Minghao.”

Chanyeol squinted his eyes, “He’s in love with Park Jihoon.”.

“I didn’t know that!”

“Everyone knows that.”

“Well I got here, like, five minutes ago, give me a break.”

Chanyeol moved a seat closer, “Who else?”.

“Someone from camp and someone from my old town. Are we good here? Cause I’m gonna go.”

“Who’s the fifth?”

“What?”

Baekhyun stopped before he could get off the stool, palms feeling sweaty like he was being interrogated.

“You only named four.”

Baekhyun had to think quick, he could make someone up. Chanyeol wouldn’t know if he was lying or not, so it didn’t matter.

He just had to think of a name. Any name.

Why couldn’t he think of a name?

“If you don’t want to tell me that’s fine.”

Baekhyun didn’t realise he was thinking to himself for too long and nodded, thankful that Chanyeol didn’t ask any further.

“I’ll drive you home, let’s go.”, Chanyeol got up from his seat and handed baekhyun his car keys so he could get in first while paid for the drinks.

Once they pulled up in front of Baekhyun’s house an awkward silence enveloped them, which was strange because the whole ride itself was silent. Although they never considered themselves officially as ‘friends’ they rarely had awkward silences, it felt normal just being around each other. Baekhyun knew Chanyeol had something he wanted to say.

“Thank you for paying for the drinks, the next time we get pizza or something it’ll be on me.”

Chanyeol waved it off, “It’s fine, no worries. But what are you, gonna say to Sehun? I mean, do you like him, or?”

“Its not your problem, Park. I’ll see around, or at my house whenever.”

“Wait, wait, wait.”

Baekhyun let go of the door handle and looked at him, “Yeah?”.

“What if you didn’t tell Sehun? Like, what if we let people think we’re together?”

“Number one, ew. Secondly, no.”, Baekhyun tried opening the door but it wouldn’t budge. He frowned at Chanyeol who pressed the lock to the doors.

“I’m telling my mom.”

“You do that. But- Okay, look.”, Chanyeol leaned closer and seemed to be in deep thought.

“I guess I helped you out with my face earlier. So I’d like it if you could help me out too.”

Baekhyun looked skeptical.

“How?”

“You know how Kyungsoo and I broke up? Well he heard about the kiss and went crazy. If he thinks we’re actually dating there’s no doubt he’ll want me back.”

“So you want to use me as your pawn?”, Baekhyun reached over and pressed the button that released the lock on his door, getting out of the car and walking to his front door not even wanting to hear what else Chanyeol had to say.

Chanyeol chased after him and held onto his arm, stopping him from going further. Baekhyun and just faced him, crossing his arms impatiently.

“Technically, you used me as your pawn first when you jumped me.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Not forgiven yet. Look, you don’t have to give me an answer now. Just think about it.”

Baekhyun hummed and tugged away from Chanyeol’s grip that the taller forgot he still had on him.

“Don’t hold your breath, Park.”, he sing songed while going inside.

\- ♡ -

He marched to the football field where he knew Chanyeol was practicing at, thanks to the group of girls he heard squealing over Chanyeol looking good in his custom made uniform. He saw the walking tree standing along the sides and gulping down a bottle of water.

Baekhyun had to admit that was kind of hot.

Once he was close enough he called out to the other, catching Chanyeol’s attention instantly and making him sprint closer.

“What?”

Baekhyun shifted apprehensively on his feet, taking a deep breath.

“Let’s do this. You and me.”

He saw it as a way to show Sehun that he no longer had feelings for him and Chanyeol's plan seemed harmless enough for the most part.

Chanyeol’s face twisted into a smile and Baekhyun didn’t expect for him to lean down and kiss him spontaneously and at the same time gently.

They let go with a smack of the lips which made Baekhyun more flustered than the actual kiss did, he left the field a little too quickly when some of the other players made confused noises or just stopped to wonder what was going on.

“I’m going to lit, have a great day!”

\- ♡ -

“I’m not allowed to kiss you? But you kissed me first.”

Baekhyun whined and forcefully shoved the pen in Chanyeol’s hand, “This is my first relationship, even though it’s fake, I don’t want all my firsts to be fake. Will you just sign it?”.

“No. I’d like to rethink this contract. People are gonna get suspicious if I’m not allowed to touch you.”

“How about this, you can put your hand in my back pocket.”

Chanyeol blinked blankly, “What the hell is that.”.

“Sixteen Candles! We watched it last month, it’s the opening image.”

“Oh, isn’t that the movie I fell asleep to?”

“I’m adding that to the contract, you have to rewatch it.”, Baekhyun scribbled down a note on the paper before adding another, “Another rule, don’t tell anyone about this.”.

“Duh, first rule of Fight Club.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes with a small smile tugging at his lips seeing Baekhyun’s confusion, “Add Fight Club there too, I’m guessing it’s one of the movies I suggested that you fell asleep to.”.

“The one time you’re a genius, Park. What else?”

Chanyeol looked at him quite intently, giving Baekhyun a loopy feeling in his stomach.

“I could write you little love notes.”

Baekhyun was pleasantly surprised, “You’d do that?”.

“Yeah, Kyungsoo always bugged me to do it for him but if I did them for you he’d go totally psycho.”

_‘Ah, there it is.’_

“Has anyone ever told you how romantic you are.”

“Honestly, I don’t hear it enough.”, Chanyeol grinned.

Baekhyun tore the paper out of his notebook and drew two lines before putting his signature on one.

“Oh, and you have to drive Soo Ah and I to school everyday.”

“I practically already do that but you got it.”

“Okay, that’s good enough. Sign here please.”

“One more thing.”, Chanyeol took his pen and wrote in large letters ‘ _COUNTRY CROSS’_.

“You have to come with me on the country cross, no boyfriend would let their boyfriend or girlfriend go on that trip alone so you have to come with me.”

“What makes you think we’ll still be doing this by then? That trip isn’t for another three months.”

“Well if we’re still doing this by then, you’re going with me. End of discussion. Deal, Byun?”

Baekhyun nodded and held his hand out as a way to seal the deal, Chanyeol accepted the hand shake with a chuckle before putting his signature down to make it official.

From then on things were undoubtedly different, not because Beakhyun felt like he was getting more attention than he did in his entire life but because he was getting used to constantly having Chanyeol’s arm around him or his hand in his back pocket.

As they walked into the cafeteria Chanyeol spun him around and naturally rested a hand against the smaller’s hip, using the other to pull out a note from his blazer. It was a folded with _‘Baek’_ and a heart on it.

“For you. Good job.”

Baekhyun shivered hearing Chanyeol’s deep voice speak in hush tone into his ear, was his voice always this low?

He took the note and placed it in his own blazer, smiling a little too convincingly at Chanyeol before following him to his regular lunch table. It was packed with people and made Baekhyun miss the quiet outdoor bleachers.

He just focused on trying to ignore the icy looks Kyungsoo gave him while he sat next to Chanyeol.

\- ♡ -

“Seriously, do I have to go?”

Baekhyun pouted while standing outside of whoever’s house this was, it looked like whoever lived here was a millionaire. Chanyeol nodded sternly and held Baekhyun’s shoulders.

“It would be weird if you didn’t come with me, it’ll be fun! You don’t have to drink or anything- As your dad told me, no drugs, no drinking and no hands.”

“Yeah but I’ve never really been to a party before and-“

“And nothing. Let’s go. Take your jacket off, you look hot might so as well flaunt it.”

Chanyeol helped baekhyun remove his jacket and missed the reddening of his cheeks as he did so.

“Great. Oh, but first.”, Chanyeol held out his hand, “Gimme your phone.”.

“Why.”

“Trust me here.”

Baekhyun reluctantly handed over his phone and watched Chanyeol take a picture of himself before returning it.

“Make that your screen saver, it’ll make us seem more believable.”

“And what is your screen saver, hm?”, Baekhyun changed his lock screen to Chanyeol’s picture, silently laughing at the silly pose he pulled.

“C’mon, you know I already got it covered.”

Chanyeol pulled his phone out and showed his screen saver, Baekhyun gasped and clutched his phone to take a closer look at the picture.

“Oh my god! We were so little…”

It was a picture of them when they were five, technically the first time they met at a park, both having the biggest smiles on their faces which were dirtied with ice cream.

“Yeah, my folks found them the other day and I couldn’t resist.”, Chanyeol smiled proudly at Baekhyun before glancing fondly at the picture and pocketing his phone.

“You’ve got to send me that.”

“Got it. Now, let’s go.”

They entered the party and to Baekhyun’s surprise it wasn’t as crowded and rowdy as he expected, there was definitely a lot of people but they were scattered around and doing their own thing, either playing pool, eating in the kitchen or just sitting in the living area.

“Chan! Glad you made it, oh so I finally get to meet your cute boyfriend.”, a very good looking person approached them and winked flirtatiously at Baekhyun.

“Back off, Kris. Your place is sick, did your dad rob a casino?”

“You could say that.”, Kris, as Baekhyun just learnt, laughed in response to Chanyeol, “Well make yourselves comfortable and I hope you have fun.”.

“Nice to meet you.”, Baekhyun smiled and looked around, wondering if the place was actually attained through illegal means.

“I was kidding, don’t worry.”, Chanyeol mused as he brought Baekhyun’s hand up to kiss.

Baekhyun raised a brow and grinned, “You’re awfully cheesy tonight.”.

“Kyungsoo’s looking.”

“Oh.”

“Speak of the devil, he’s calling you over. Keep doing a good job, Byun. I’ll get us some drinks.”, Chanyeol let go of him and seemingly disappeared into a crowd of people near the kitchen.

“Baekhyun! Come sit with us.”, Kyungsoo’s friend Jongdae called to him.

He didn’t have much of a choice so he headed over and sat opposite them, looking awkward but he didn’t know how to not be when Kyungsoo looked undeniably good in his ‘effortlessly effortless look’. Baekhyun wondered if his loose flannel with jeans was the wrong way to go compared to Kyungsoo in his (super) skinny ripped jeans and white tee.

“So, you and Chanyeol, huh? Never expected it, weren’t you guys friends since you were, like, born?”, Jongdae didn’t sound condescending but genuinely curious, and clearly in disbelief.

“Yeah, I guess we just had a thing for each other.”

Kyungsoo hummed and sat forward, “I know you guys haven’t done anything yet, and you know what I mean.”.

Baekhyun wasn’t sure where he got his confidence from but he raised a brow and relaxed a little, “How would you know that, Kyungsoo?”.

“Cause I know Chanyeol. And I also know Baekhyun, very well.”

“It’s been four years, I don’t think you know me as well as you think you do.”, Baekhyun’s gaze was just as intense as Kyungsoo’s and was only broken when Chanyeol retuned with two drinks.

“Babe, here’s your drink. Oh, hey guys.”, Chanyeol sat next to Baekhyun and placed his arm around his waist, nodding in acknowledgement to the two opposite them.

Kyungsoo blatantly eyed Chanyeol as he got up which did not go unnoticed by Chanyeol himself, Baekhyun felt like he was in the middle of something despite being the one next to Chanyeol.

Once Kyungsoo and Jongdae were gone Baekhyun took a sip of his drink and made a disgusted face, “This is gross.”.

“It’s beer, not really my thing either. Drink this, it’s just water.”

Baekhyun accepted Chanyeol’s red cup and took a sip of the water, “You don’t drink?”.

“Of course not, I’m driving you.”

Baekhyun hated the way the addition of ‘you’ at the end made him feel special, he didn’t expect to enjoy being a fake boyfriend so much, let alone be Chanyeol’s fake boyfriend.

“Baekhyun, hey!”, Minghao exclaimed as he came closer, “Oh, hey Chanyeol. Nice seeing you two together.”.

Baekhyun stood up and felt relieved to see a friendly face, “Hey, Minghao.”.

Chanyeol also stood, “You have fun, I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick.”.

Baekhyun nodded and followed Minghao to the kitchen when he mentioned they have ice cream. Chanyeol unconsciously smiled seeing Baekhyun’s eyes light up like a child, he shook off the feeling and went upstairs.

Kyungsoo who was secretly eyeing him from the other side of the room excused himself from his group and trailed behind him, waiting outside the door for a minute or two before knocking.

Chanyeol who was wiping his hands opened the door and was caught off guard from the way Kyungsoo lightly shoved him backwards, shutting the door behind him so it was just the two of them.

“So, you and Baekhyun?”

Chanyeol exhaled through his nose and shrugged, “Why do you care? Aren’t you having fun with that college boyfriend of yours?”.

Kyungsoo bitterly scoffed and eyed the bracelet on Chanyeol’s wrist, “You always wear this. Shouldn’t you share it with someone you have real feelings for?”.

Chanyeol only stared as Kyungsoo took his bracelet off and slipped it on his own wrist, fixing his hair and jumping a little as he pulled his jeans up. An action he knew Chanyeol found attractive.

“How do I look?”

“You look good as always, Kyungsoo. Now give it back.”

“No, I’m gonna keep it for a while. Call me later.”

“Seriously, Kyungsoo-“

The shorter left the bathroom and Chanyeol felt like he just saw a jealous side of him he wasn’t used to, he wasn’t entirely sure if it was even what he wanted to see.

He came back downstairs to the buzz of the party and watched Baekhyun laugh at something Minghao said while finishing an ice cream sandwich, the sight was pretty and he got to see the little crinkle of his eyes without his questioning of ’what are you staring at?’. He grabbed Baekhyun’s jacket from the coat closet and made his way over, interrupting their conversation.

“Hey, wanna get outta here and get something to eat?”

Baekhyun was startled but nodded and said goodbye to Minghao, following Chanyeol out. They drove to the diner and ordered food to share, this time they had a comfortable silence between them but both could feel a sense of anticipation in the air. Chanyeol was the first to break the silence.

“So, does it feel weird to be back? A lot of people don’t recognise you, not sure why when you’ve always been short.”

Baekhyun playfully kicked him under the table and hummed as he finished chewing a fry, “A little, it doesn’t feel like anyone’s changed. I thought that when I came back no one would care but a lot of people seemed to be happy. I never made the effort to keep in contact so I felt bad…”.

“I don’t think anyone’s really changed, we’ve all grown up, you know? It’s normal. Plus everyone will always say hi back if you say it first, Baek. Maybe not Kyungsoo but most.”

Baekhyun giggled at the comment, nodding and eyeing Chanyeol’s phone as it kept buzzing.

“You gonna get that?”

“It’s just Kyungsoo. Unbelievable, he says nothing to me at the party but blows up my phone when I leave. Whatever, I’ll call him when I get home.”

Baekhyun made a face to himself as he sipped his cola.

“Why are you making that face, what are you judging me on?”

“What?”

“I know that face, you’re talking shit about me in your head.”

Baekhyun shrugged and leaned back with his arms crossed, pushing down the irked feeling he felt.

“I just feel like you’re… very obsessed with Kyungsoo. You seem to call him everyday.”

“For someone who’s never had a boyfriend you sure have a lot of opinions.”

“Well you’ve only had one boyfriend and you act like he’s the only being on earth you’re capable of dating.”

Chanyeol pouted like he was offended, pulling the same face he would when Baekhyun took his toys or desert as a kid.

"But I can see why you like him so much, he has great style and is quite the looker."

"His style is alright, in all honesty I thought you looked better tonight."

Baekhyun just sipped his drink to hide the smile daring to creep on his face, Chanyeol probably didn't even know what he was saying anyways.

“Tell me something, why have you never had a boyfriend? You’re not bad looking, Byun. Plus you wrote all these love letters, little player.”

Baekhyun felt more shy than usual, “I mean, I like reading and watching all these things about romance but to actually experience it is something totally different. The characters in these things know what to do in a relationship, it seems natural to them. I’m not sure if I’ll be good at it, if that makes sense.”.

“But what about us now? You don’t seem so scared.”, Chanyeol’s tone was soft.

“Yeah, but I mean when it’s real. This is fake.”

Chanyeol’s expression changed and he felt a loss of appetite, “Right, I forgot.”.

The air didn’t feel as comfortable anymore and Baekhyun saw a visible change in Chanyeol as he got up to take his keys and wallet out.

“Hey, I’ll get this one-“

“It’s fine, I got it. Finish your drink and I’ll take you home.”

“Chanyeol, we’re cool right? Are you okay?”, Baekhyun didn’t like the way Chanyeol’s shoulders seemed tense and his grin didn’t scream ‘carefree’ as it normally did.

“Of course, Byun.”

\- ♡ -

“Where are all the carrots?”

“Definitely not here with the ice cream, Chanyeol.”

“Okay, when did you design the structure of supermarkets? Maybe there’s a piece of cucumber lying in one of these freezers, ever think about that?”

Baekhyun grimaced and grabbed a tub of cookie dough ice cream, “I hate cucumbers.”.

“I know. Get the cotton candy flavour, Kitty liked it last time we bought it.”

After filling the cart with unneeded amounts of ice cream, they found some items that was on the list Chanyeol’s mom gave them.

“She wants us to get some peaches and beef. I’ll get the peaches and you get the beef.”, Baekhyun instructed before walking off and rolling his eyes at how Chanyeol got distracted by the halloween decorations hanging from the ceiling.

He looked around and saw a pack of six big peaches, thinking it was more than enough to share between his and Chanyeol’s family. He had to balance on his tiptoes when reaching on the unnecessarily high shelf.

“Good thing you have me.”

Baekhyun shivered hearing a deep voice mumble into his ear, watching Chanyeol’s hand reach for the peaches to put into the cart. His chest kept doing that annoying thing where it felt like it would burst whenever Chanyeol did these kinds of things.

“I almost had it.”

“Well we would have been here until next week by the time you grabbed it.”, Chanyeol dragged him excitedly to where they displayed halloween themed clothes and candy.

“We have to get these, look how cool they are!”

“Just one, we need to hurry back so your mom can cook- What are you doing?”

Chanyeol huffed when he couldn’t tie the strings to the Dracula themed cape, “This is difficult.”.

“Here.”

Baekhyun left the cart and reached his hands up to tie the cape around his neck, making it into a nice bow and not even noticing how Chanyeols’ cheeks turned pink from how close they were.

“Done. Well what do you know, it doesn’t look bad.”

“Duh. I’m Chanyeol, anything I wear looks good. Now watch this.”

Chanyeol dramatically whooshed around Baekhyun and waved the cape, making the smaller laugh and hit his side for making them look weird in the middle of the store.

\- ♡ -

“How’s it taste? I used a special kind of cream, took me so many hours to get right.”

Baekhyun hummed in approval after taking a big bite of Minseok’s homemade cupcake, also giving a thumbs up as they ate.

“It’s really good, like wow. But why are we eating under the bleachers?”

“If any of those cave people saw I made cupcakes you wouldn’t have any available for yourself right now.”

“Say no more, we can stay here forever if you’ll make me more of these.”

As they continued eating, the unmistakable voices of two people caught their attention.

“You never talk to me anymore, you’re always hanging out with him, Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun and Minseok looked up and saw glimpses of Chanyeol and Kyungsoo sitting above them.

“Well Baekhyun is my boyfriend, what can I do? Besides, you have your own boyfriend.”

Baekhyun made a move to get up but Minseok stopped him, “We should go, this sounds private.”.

“Are you kidding me? That’s your boyfriend with his ex and they’re talking about you.”, Minseok whispered as they listened in further.

“Well, he’s not even a good listener.”, Kyungsoo sounded small, Baekhyun wasn’t used to hearing him like this.

“That’s because he’s not at your beck and call like me, huh? How long are you gonna keep doing this to me?”

Baekhyun pouted to himself while wiping the cream from his lip, he knew he couldn’t compare to Kyungsoo who was always running through his (fake) boyfriend’s mind.

“He’s not coming to the country cross, right? That’s our thing.”

“What about your boyfriend? You’re just gonna drop him for me if I say yes?”

Baekhyun and Minseok heard a silence and looked at each other, they held their breaths to hear better when Kyungsoo spoke up.

“Well, maybe by then we won’t be together anymore.”

Minseok gave Baekhyun an apologetic look and rubbed his arm comfortingly. Baekhyun wasn’t sure if he felt heartbroken or angry at himself for not expecting this in the first place.

\- ♡ -

November rolled around and Baekhyun was successful in avoiding Sehun at all costs. When they saw each other in the hallways he would walk as fast as his little legs could carry him or he’d shove himself in whichever classroom he was next to. He once stumbled into a science class and felt embarrassed every time he remembered the twenty students staring at him in confusion.

Luck wasn’t on Baekhyun’s side when he was cornered by Sehun on a Tuesday next to the lockers in an empty hallway, he was against the wall and felt too hesitant to run away with Sehun right in front of him.

“Baekhyun, can we talk?”

“I have to go meet Chanyeol…”

“That’s what I wanted to talk about. W-Why Chanyeol? I thought you were innocent, I mean… Park of all people?”

Baekhyun felt angry, Sehun didn’t have the right to make assumptions about him like he’s known him the past four years.

“I’m not innocent as you think- What, you think I’m still a stupid kid or something? We talked a few times since I got back and suddenly you think you know me?”

Sehun seemed at a loss for words, looking into Baekhyun’s eyes like he was looking for answer.

“I didn’t change. I thought you didn’t too. But I see how you avoid me. What, just because you’re with Chanyeol we can’t be friends?”

“I thought it would be weird! You guys used to be so close…”

“What about the letter you se-“

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Did you mean what you wrote?”

_Baekhyun looked at him this time, feeling so much guilt because he was the reason for the hurt and turmoil on his face._

_‘Dear Sehun,_

_I know it’s weird to start a letter this way, but I love you. I can’t explain how I feel but I will anyways._

_I think it started when I was practicing my basketball skills after school, I was unbelievably bad and I heard you chuckle from one of the benches I didn’t realise you were sitting at. You walked over and had the cutest smile on your face before offering to help me. I think I was really bad because I was too short to even throw the ball in the hoop, but you were taller than me and showed me how you could easily make a goal. How were you so good at basketball? When you held my hands and helped me I felt like we were in a movie. I know we’ve been friends for so long but you’re always so nice, smiling all the time or waving when I entered your classroom to get something._

_You’re really good at dancing but aren’t boastful about it, in fact you offer to teach anyone who compliments you, I think you’re so sweet. When we had the school bake sale you gave me a cupcake you made, you gave it to me for free and said it’s because you thought my favourite colour was blue like the cupcake was. My favourite colour was actually pink but after that it was definitely blue, your kind words and cute smile made the cupcake taste a lot sweeter._

_I noticed you like puppies a lot, you didn’t even care when Chanyeol or the others teased you for having a puppy keychain and notebook, I thought that was really cool, but I always think you’re cool. Your dog Vivi is also the cutest so I can’t blame you._

_I’m jealous of whoever gets to date you, they must be the luckiest person on earth. But I think the person who gets to marry you is the actual luckiest person ever._

_Do you know how much I like you? Sometimes I felt like you do._

_I’m so sad to be moving away, I’m even more heartbroken at the fact that I’ll be going farther away from you. I don’t think there’s anyone quite like you Oh Sehun. All I know is that whatever I felt for you, I have no doubt it was love (at least I think)._

_I hope you’re always happy._

_Love, Baekhyun’_

“I- I wrote it a long time ago, you weren’t ever meant to get it.”

“But I did! I mean, if I knew you felt this way at some point I would have-“

“Would have what?”, Baekhyun suddenly felt conscious of whether someone was listening in on them or if they passed and saw him with Sehun while still acting as Chanyeol’s boyfriend.

“I would have asked you out before you left, or asked you even when you moved.”, Sehun’s voice trailed off into a whisper when Baekhyun kept his head down.

“I’m sorry, Sehun. It’s too late for that.”

“I know, but I’m still here for you. I heard that Kyungsoo is still close to Chanyeol and that they meet up often since you got together. I wanted to see if you were okay.”

Why did things have to get so complicated? Especially when he was questioning if he was developing real feelings for his fake boyfriend. Sehun wasn’t helping the situation.

“Can I be honest? I feel afraid to keep getting to know Chanyeol in a romantic way, because it might hurt when he gets back with Kyungsoo.”

“Baek, I don't think this will end well-“

“What the hell, Byun.”

They both looked over to see Chanyeol coming over, sporting an irritated expression.

“Should I wait?”, Sehun asked.

“I don’t think so. I’ll catch you later.”, Baekhyun walked away and followed Chanyeol to a secluded area near the lockers, he could feel how annoyed Chanyeol was at the sight of his ex- best friend.

“Chanyeol, we were just taking.”

“Do you know how bad it looks for my boyfriend to be cozying up next to Sehun? What are people gonna say?”

“I don’t know, what would people say if they knew you were practically begging to get back with Kyungsoo on the bleachers?”

“Oh, so you’re spying on me now?”

“Not intentionally.”

“You know what, so what if I talk to Kyungsoo? You don’t even post about us anywhere.”

Baekhyun crossed his arms and felt defensive, they’ve had many fights throughout the years but this one felt different and not in the way Baekhyun would roll his eyes about afterwards like the others.

“I don’t want my siblings to see, that’s why.”

“Yes, because Soo Ah is so gonna care.”

“Not Soo Ah, Baekbeom. I don’t want to explain this mess of a situation to him if he asks why I’m suddenly dating you.”

Chanyeol was beyond agitated and he wasn’t entirely sure why, seeing Baekhyun with Sehun reminded him of why they stopped being friends in the first place.

“Look, Chanyeol- I think we can call this off now. It looks like there’s a way for Sehun and I to get past this and Kyungsoo seems extremely jealous so maybe we should just stop here.”.

“You know what, you’ve been distant with me to lately. I know, you’re trying to break up with be before the country cross trip next week, aren’t you? It’s in the contract, Baekhyun.”

“I only had to go if we were still together.”

“We are still together! You’re just trying to get out of it because you’re scared.”

They ignored the ringing of the bell which signalled they were late for class, Baekhyun gripped the handle of his bag pack and barked back at Chanyeol.

“What would I have to be scared of?”

“You tell me.”

Baekhyun knew exactly what he was afraid of, he didn’t want to develop even deeper feelings for Chanyeol than the ones that already resurfaced.

\- ♡ -

Baekhyun did attend the country cross trip, he also found out they called it ‘country cross’ because it just meant a more ‘luxurious’ version of camping in the countryside. He declined Chanyeol’s offer of a ride to school by ignoring his text, he was driven to school by his mom instead.

“Thanks for the ride, mom. I’ll see you in a few days.”

“Wait, look Baekhyun I feel like we need to talk about sex for a moment.”

Baekhyun never felt the urge to lunge himself out of a car so strongly in his life before, “No, no, we’re not doing this.”.

“Look, you don’t tell me about your relationship with Chanyeol much so I don’t know what you’re up to. But! I know you’re both responsible, I packed a few things in your bag for protection- Remember that pulling out is not effective in preventing sexual-“.

“Thanks mom, bye, love you!”

Baekhyun escaped the car and grimaced to himself, he didn’t want to think about having sex with Chanyeol, much less talk to his mom about it.

After shoving his bag into the trunk of the travel bus, he saw that he had two options when deciding who to sit next to for the next three hours: Minseok or Chanyeol.

He walked past Chanyeol’s aisle and sighed when his arm was tapped.

“Baek, I saved you a seat.”, Chanyeol had a hopeful glint in his eyes, Baekhyun almost felt bad.

Almost.

“That’s alright, I’m gonna sit with Minseok.”

“But-“

He walked off to plop down next to Minseok, internally slapping himself for feeling jealous when Kyungsoo swooped in and sat next to Chanyeol instead. Perfect timing.

“Are you and Chanyeol okay? Did you guys fight?”, Minseok tiredly asked as he leaned his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“Just a little, it’s fine though.”

“You two are so weird, but I like you much better than I like Kyungsoo.”

Baekhyun smiled gratefully, although it didn’t come from Chanyeol, it still felt nice to hear.

“Not only are you a great cook but you’re a great judge of character.”

\- ♡ -

After locking himself in his cabin room to avoid ‘physical camp activities’ with the others, Baekhyun had a face mask on when he heard a knock at his door.

“Minseok! I said I don’t want to swim in a freezing cold lake, I don’t want to learn how to build a fire and I don’t want to get hit in the face during volleyball, you go!”

“It’s not Minseok! It’s Minghao, I heard you have face masks.”

Baekhyun opened the door to Minghao who was dressed in his pyjamas and holding out two tubs out ice cream.

“Wanna share?”

\- ♡ -

“So you both have been faking it this whole time? I don’t buy it.”

Baekhyun nodded and finished the last few scoops of his ice cream, “Yep. We wrote a contract and everything.”.

Minghao threw his empty tub in the trashcan and faced Baekhyun in seriousness.

“No, I don’t buy that he was faking it. At least not recently.”

“You think so?”

“The way he looks at you is the way I look at Jihoon. Trust me, he’s got it bad.”

Baekhyun smiled sadly at the thought, he found it hard to believe. But maybe Minghao was onto something, he wanted to admit.

“I don’t know, he’s still not over Kyungsoo and I don’t want to stay in the middle of that.”

“Well, I saw how he kept looking at you on the ride here. I was worried the guy would get a whiplash at some point, in fact he’s probably in the hot tub waiting for you right now.”

“This place has a hot tub?”

“For God’s sake, do you ever go outside or what?”

“You’d be surprised.”

With the help of Minghao, Baekhyun found his way to the outdoor hot tub after quickly changing into a robe. He stilled when he actually saw Chanyeol sitting in there, arms resting on the rounded sides and the blue illuminating lights bouncing off of his face.

Baekhyun took a deep breathe and approached him, stepping onto the higher wooden level.

“Hi.”

Chanyeol looked up abruptly and looked surprise to see him, but his face quickly morphed into a pout. He just silently watched the water bubbling around him.

“So you’re ignoring me now? You’re such a baby.”

“You’re the one that didn’t wanna sit with me.”

Chanyeol trailed his eyes up Baekhyun and couldn’t stop looking at the way the smaller’s hair was tussled so messily in a way that was impossibly attractive, similar to how he would look when he just woke up and Chanyeol came over unexpectedly in the morning.

“But you got to sit with Kyungsoo. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I don’t remember you being this stupid, Baekhyun.”

“Excuse me? Do you want me to hold your head underwater?”

“Cmon, Byun. I wanted to sit next to you- I… I even asked your mom how to make your favourite lunch box.”

Baekhyun liked the way Chanyeol became bashful, even through the blue hues surrounding them he could see what was a blush on Chanyeol’s cheeks.

“Really? Those takes hours to make though.”

“Exactly, so if I took time to make those… damn difficult egg rolls when I could have just gone for your favourite donuts, what does that mean?”

“You ate the donuts yourself and had to go with a backup?”

Channel laughed and sighed, sinking into his spot a little further.

“You’re impossible, Baekhyun. You always drive me crazy.”

The area was isolated apart from them, it started to get chilly and Baekhyun felt stupid standing there when Chanyeol kept stealing glances from him and shifting in the water. He looked around before untying his white robe and dipped both his feet into the warm water.

“You’re coming in here with just a shirt?”

Baekhyun shrugged, “I didn’t bring anything to swim in, and don’t get too excited cause I’m wearing underwear.”.

Chanyeol pretended to tut in disappointment before smiling and reaching over to pull Baekhyun closer, guiding him over to his side and sitting him on his lap. Their faces were so close, close enough for them to only have each other to focus on.

“I swear, there’s no one like you Baekhyun.”, Chanyeol mumbled to himself for the most part.

Baekhyun faintly smiled before leaning in and quickly kissing him, amused when Chanyeol made a fake angry face.

“That kiss was shorter than you are. C’mere.”

Baekhyun’s arms relaxed around Chanyeol’s bare broad shoulders and the taller had his arms protectively wrapped over his clothed waist, both kissing in a slow manner like they had all the time in the world.

Baekhyun knew he was a goner by now, his feelings were flying all over the place and there was no way he could deny them for his childhood friend, or whatever Chanyeol was, at this point.

He just couldn’t push away the thought that maybe Chanyeol felt the same way.

\- ♡ -

Baekhyun peeked one eye open when their bus came to a stop, he lifted his hand and ran his fingers through Chanyeol’s hair to wake him up. He felt him groggily mumbling something before nuzzling deeper into Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“Keep doing that, feels nice…”

“We’re here now. Let's get off, my butt’s numb.”

They got up from their seats and Baekhyun told Chanyeol, who was stumbling about in his post- sleepy state, that he would get his bag first. As he waited for the staff to open the trunk Kyungsoo approached him, in a daintily friendly manner which put a weird look on Baekhyun’s face.

“Hey, Baekhyun. Glad you came on the trip, I hope you had fun.”

Baekhyun put on a smile, “Thanks, Kyungsoo. I did.”.

He accepted his bag from one of the supervisors and waved to Kyungsoo, a little too awkwardly, before attempting to walk away.

“You know, I’m really happy that you’re so understanding of Chanyeol and I’s relationship. We go way back, so.”

“I’ve known him the same amount that you have Kyungsoo. We literally all used to hang out.”

“Details. But look, I think it’s still cool of you. I mean, I would be freaked if my boyfriend spent the night in someone else’s room.”

Baekhyun raised a brow and felt a sudden wave of possessiveness come over him. Chanyeol went to see Kyungsoo after kissing him in the hot tub?

“What do you mean?”

“Chanyeol came over last night, you didn’t know? He even gave me this.”, Kyungsoo held up his wrist and showed off Chanyeol’s silver charm. Baekhyun didn’t even notice he didn’t have it for the last few days.

_‘Why would he give that to him?’_

“Well, I’m gonna head home but I’ll see you.”, the short little devil headed to his group of friends, the same time Baekhyun felt an arm rest around his shoulders.

“Ready to go home?”

“Did you go to Kyungsoo’s room last night? And you gave him your bracelet?”

Baekhyun didn’t know how hurt he would feel when seeing the guilty look on Chanyeol’s face, he wanted an explanation but he felt like he wasn’t even entitled to it.

Everything was fake, why did he do this to himself?

“Okay, I did. But Baekhyun let me explain, okay?”

“I don’t want to hear it. I thought that we weren’t pretending in that moment, that it wasn’t fake... Am I some kind of joke to you?”

“No, you’re not a joke, Baekhyun. Let me drive you home, I’ll explain everything.”

“I’d rather walk. No, I’d rather drive myself than get in a car with you right now.”

Baekhyun wondered why Chanyeol looked so hurt when the person he wanted to be with was standing on the other side of the parking lot, probably already looking at him and waiting for him to run back into his arms. Baekhyun gripped his bag and turned around, he didn’t want to look at Chanyeol for any longer.

“Woah, woah, woah. Baekhyun please.”, Chanyeol hurriedly blocked his way and held onto his sides which Baekhyun responded to by pushing him away.

“Baekhyun, c’mon you know me-“

“Yeah, I know you which is why I believe you would do this sort of thing! I’m just mad at myself for not seeing it coming- Whatever, this was all fake anyways. There were never any real feelings between us.”

“What about the letter?”

Baekhyun stopped, “What letter?”.

“Your letter, to me. Baekhyun, I know you wrote me a letter. I read it.”

Baekhyun could have sworn he felt pieces of his world crashing down onto him, like they were trying to knock him out and wake him up from whatever nightmare this situation this was.

“I- I have to go.”

“Baekhyun, I’m sorry I didn’t say an-“

“Why didn’t you tell me! This whole time, you’ve been pretending you never got it? What, was this funny to you? And at the diner you acted like you had no idea what I was talking about. You... You’re such a jerk.”

Chanyeol pulled him further away from the parking lot and near the football field in front of the bleachers. Baekhyun didn’t realise he was tearing up until Chanyeol held his cheek. Baekhyun just roughly shoved away and aggressively wiping his eyes himself.

“Baek, I was going to tell you when we were on the tracks but- But you kissed me before I could say anything about it.”

“And you never bothered to tell me anytime after that?”

“You didn’t mention me in the list when we were at the diner, I thought you regretted writing mine or something. I was scared you would be uncomfortable if I mentioned it.”

“How do you think I feel now?”

That shut Chanyeol up and made him dejectedly drop his arms to his sides, just hopelessly staring at Baekhyun.

“Bye, Chanyeol.”, Baekhyun walked away and began the trail to his house.

Chanyeol knew if he went after him it would cause a scene, he didn’t want anyone giving them weird looks or eavesdropping for Baekhyun’s sake. He just watched as the growing distance between them made Baekhyun look so far away and unattainable.

It was an uncomfortable fifteen minute walk with his heavy bag on his shoulder, but he thought it was better than being stuck in a confined space with Chanyeol. Stepping into his house was undoubtedly the best part of his horrible day, seeing the new Christmas decorations around and the pictures of his family plastered around helped put him in a better mood.

“Baekhyun! You’re home!”

He dropped his bags when Soo Ah crashed into him embraced her tightly.

“Well someone missed me. Did you do this all yourself?”

“No, she had some help.”

Baekhyun snapped his head to the voice and yelped in surprise, “Baekbeom! When did you get here?”.

“Last night, wanted to surprise you guys. Byun sibling hug!”, the eldest happy chirped as he came closer and hugged his younger siblings.

Being around the people he loved helped him forget about the events that occurred earlier, he managed to push Chanyeol to the back of his mind for the next few hours.

\- ♡ -

“So how was Japan? Did you bring me back suff?”, Soo Ah excitedly asked while they rolled the dough to make cookies.

“It was good, and you'll see soon. Wait for Christmas, Kitty.”

Baekhyun absentmindedly rolled the dough between his hands for longer than needed, turns out forgetting Chanyeol was harder than it seemed. Even with the help of his energetic brother and sister.

“Baekhyun? You okay?”, Baekbeom shook his brother’s arm before continuing to sprinkle tiny fat Santa decorations on the cookies.

“Hm? Yeah, just a little tired from the trip is all.”

Soo Ah didn’t look convinced, wiping the raw cookie dough from the side of her mouth.

“Did you and Chanyeol fight?”

Baekhyun just gave her a look and threw a towel at her, earning Baekbeom’s scolding.

“Hey, nicely. Chanyeol? What did you guys bicker about this time?”

Baekbeom’s question remained unanswered when the doorbell rang, giving Baekhyun the chance to avoid answering it.

“I got it.”, he got up and wiped his hands to answer the door.

Just when he thought he had enough of Chanyeol for one day he makes a comeback, and this time in a hoodie and one of his mom’s plastic containers in his hand.

“Chanyeol?”

“Hey, my mom wanted me to drop off some kimbap she made. I also wanted to talk to you. Please.”

Baekhyun took the container and placed it on the chair near the entrance, “Let’s talk out here.”.

Chanyeol nodded eagerly, giving his full attention to Baekhyun.

“Baek, nothing happened between Kyungsoo and I last night.”

“But you still went to his room in the first place.”

“We dated for so long, there’s so much history between us-“

“Why does everyone act like I don’t know this. We’ve all known each other for the same amount of time, Chanyeol.”

“I know that, I do. But dating is something else, feelings like that are hard to get rid of.”

“What about on the trip? Were you just joking around with me because you were bored? Since you obviously have these feelings for Kyungsoo.”, Baekhyun crossed his arms and bit his lip frustratedly.

“Chanyeol, I’m tired of being someone’s second choice, or second best- Or even fake best. You read my letter and I don’t know if I can even look at you the same.”

“Baekhyun, you do not get it. Listen, last night was-“

“A mistake. We’ve known each other for so long and we- Or at least I should have known this was a bad idea. Things like physical stuff may not be a big deal to you but it is to me.”

“Who says it’s not a big deal to me?”

“You! You always talked about how you do stuff with Kyungsoo before and even when we’re at school you do it so naturally with me. People at school treat you like you’re a God and you just eat it up!”

“Baekhyun, I’m not like that.”

Chanyeol sounded like he was asking more than stating, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Baekhyun was afraid Baekbeom or Soo Ah would come outside wondering why he was taking too long.

“Chanyeol, you should go.”

“Can we just go inside and talk? I don’t want to leave this misunder... Standing, for fuck’s sake.”

Baekhyun turned around after Chanyeol cursed from something he saw behind him.

“Sehun?”

Sehun came closer and stood next to Baekhyun, glaring at Chanyeol, “He asked you to leave.”.

“What are you doing here?”, Baekhyun didn't know why he was so surprised at Sehun remembering where he lived after all this time.

“I didn’t go on the trip so I just wanted to say hi cause I was passing by, you didn’t answer my texts.”

“Are you serious right now?”, Chanyeol’s bitter tone snapped them out of it, he seemed more aggravated at the sight of Sehun.

“I know what this is, this isn’t about me and Kyungsoo this is about you and Sehun. What, are you still in love with this puppy loving- emo wannabe?”

“Or maybe, Baekhyun’s come to the life altering revelation that he could do so much better than a dick like you!”, Sehun sarcastically exclaimed, “Do you know what that means? Or have you bumped your head so many times playing football that you need me to say it again for you?”.

The vein popping out in Chanyeol’s head was starting to worry Baekhyun so he stood in the middle of them, pushing the two away when they both walked forward.

“What is going on here!”, Baekbeom demanded from the doorway.

The three of them looked to the elder and Soo Ah who peeked out from behind him. He walked down the steps and did a double take as he got a good look at Sehun and Chayeol.

“Wow, you guys got so tall. I’d love to catch up but whatever is going on has to stop now. Sehun, Chanyeol, go home. I could hear the yelling from inside, Baekhyun get in here.”, Baekbeom sternly spoke, Baekhyun knew better than to not listen so he followed him up the steps.

Baekbeom picked up the container with food from where it was on the steps, recognising it as Mrs Park's, “Tell your mom thanks, I’ll let my folks know you stopped by.”.

Chanyeol nodded but his eyes were glued to Baekhyun.

Before Baekhyun went inside he stole a glance at him and heard loud and clearly the words he blurted out.

“You were never second best to me. It wasn’t fake.”

\- ♡ -

Baekhyun held his pillow close to his chest, thinking that the worst was over. He was confused in how he felt, loosing sight of why he agreed to this fake relationship in the first place. He wanted to show Sehun that he didn’t still have the same feelings conveyed in his letter, but did he actually agree because of his underlying feelings for Chanyeol?

The heavy feeling in his heart didn’t go away no matter how many times he hit his head with the firm pillow, the image of Chanyeol looking hurt and ready to punch Sehun still vividly ingrained in his mind.

The buzz of his phone grabbed his attention, he swiped to see why Minseok was bombarding his phone with messages consisting of _‘WHAT IS THIS’_ and _‘BAEKHYUN IS THIS YOU????’._

Baekhyun screamed and dropped his phone but had to pick it up to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. It was a video of him and Chanyeol in the hot tub. Making out.

He hit his head on the pillow again when Minseok followed up with the text _‘This is on insta, what is going on????’_.

Baekhyun had to try and think logically, which was hard since a sex tape of him and his fake boyfriend was being spread to the entire school. He felt gross and exposed, like he had something to be ashamed of. He threw his phone somewhere on the bed and headed to the most responsible person in his life.

“Baekbeom, I need your help…”

The elder stopped typing on his laptop and looked up, nodding and getting up, “Sure, what’s up?”.

Looking down at his feet Baekhyun whispered, “I made a sex tape apparently.”.

“What the hell has been going on while I was away!”

\- ♡ -

“Okay, it’s been taken down. I mean you’re fully clothed and we could only see your back, if anything it’s worse for Chanyeol than it is for you.”, Baekbeom handed Baekhyun his phone back.

“I doubt that. But thank you, I don’t know how I would have handled this on my own.”

Baekhyun was thankful to have Baekbeom around because he was always collected and knew exactly what to do in every situation, it’s one of the things he missed most when his brother left for college.

“Baekhyun, why didn’t you tell me about any of this?”

“I didn’t want to lie to you,”, Baekhyun pulled his knees to his chest and pouted, “I thought you would figure it out, I mean it’s Chanyeol, of all people.”.

Baekbeom leaned back on his elbows, “I honesty did expect you two to get together eventually, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon- Even if it wasn’t real. Are you gonna talk to him?”.

“I don’t know. He can get back together with Kyungsoo now, the timing seems perfect. It’s gonna be awkward when he comes over though.”, Baekhyun murmured.

He saw Soo Ah peeking in from the crack of his opened door, he motioned her in and smiled fondly as Baekbeom smushed them all together in a hug.

“I missed you guys and I come back to all this drama? One has a sex tape, which one of you started doing drugs, huh?”

They all laughed and stayed in the embrace for a little longer than usual, Baekbeom and Soo Ah figured it was what Baekhyun needed.

“Okay, no more secrets between us. Every time something interesting happens I want to be the first to get a call or text, got it monsters?”, Baekbeom announced as Soo Ah let go from the hug.

“But, I have a secret…”

The two eldest looked at her encouragingly, watching her take a deep breath and wearily look at Baekhyun.

“I sent the letters.”

Baekhyun kept the warm smile on his face as he stood up, hovering over his younger sister before gripping her shoulder.

“You’re dead meat.”

“Mom!”, Soo Ah cried as she ran away from her brother, knocking the things over in Baekhyun’s room before finding a secure hiding spot in his closet.

Baekbeom held him back and yanked the hair brush out of his hand, “Give me that! Baekhyun, stop! She’s a kid!”.

“And it’ll stay that way cause I’m gonna kill her right now!”

“I’m sorry! You were just so lonely and I knew Chanyeol liked you but you wouldn’t do anything about it!”

Baekhyun stopped struggling in Baekbeom’s hold, “So you mailed out all five letters?”.

“Five chances at a boyfriend seemed like better odds! But I wasn’t the only one... who knew about them.”

Baebeom sighed and rubbed his temples, “Soo Ah, you’re not helping yourself.”.

“Who else knew?”, Baekhyun opened the closet door and saw Soo Ah wearing a helmet he didn’t even know was in his closet.

“Chanyeol and I sent them, he said it would be a good way for you to get a boyfriend…”

Baekhyun desolately dragged himself to sit on his bed. Chanyeol knew for so long, he probably even read the letters and laughed at Baekhyun’s stupidity.

“Baekhyun, her heart was in the right place. I'm sure Chanyeol’s was too.”

“Yeah, I’m really sorry Baekhyun.”, Soo Ah sat next to her brothers and flinched when Baekhyun patted her arm.

“It’s okay, I forgive you and I won’t kill you. But you owe me for the rest of your life.”

\- ♡ -

Baekhyun felt like he was going through a breakup. It was even more hard to digest that it was over a fake relationship with someone who used to wipe his snot on him in preschool.

After lying on his bed listening to a playlist of cheerful songs that just put him in even worse mood, he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

“Come in.”

He didn’t expect to see his dad poking his head in, “Hey, Tiger. Wanna go for a drive?”.

They drove to the diner and sat opposite each other at a table his dad insisted on, he ordered his usual strawberry milkshake while his dad got a coffee.

“You know, your mom and I had our first date here at this table. She even wrote our names on the music box.”

Baekhyun curiously looked at the box attached to the table, laughing when he spotted familiar handwriting.

“She wrote _'_ _Byun to be'_?”

His father sheepishly grinned, “Actually I wrote that. But hey, I wasn’t far off.”.

“That’s so cute.”

The two thanked the waitress for their drinks and Mr Byun put a quarter into the music box before choosing a song.

“I used to love coming here, missed it for the last four years.”

“Yeah, a lot of memories.”

The city pop music playing was catchy and Baekhyun laughed out loud from his dad’s gingerly attempt of dancing in his seat. Their food arrived and Baekhyun stopped cutting his waffles when his dad spoke up.

“Baekhyun, Baekbeom told me about Chanyeol.“

“I don’t really want to talk about Chanyeol right now.”

“Chanyeol, who?”

“Really?”, Baekhyun smiled and appreciated his dad’s attempt of raising the mood.

“I understand that things have been hard with the move, but you’ve handled it really well. I thought you should know that.”

“Thanks, Dad.”, Baekhyun played with the straw of his milkshake and looked out the window, watching the occasional car passing by in the dark which contrasted to the bright diner’s flashy interior.

“I wanted you to know that whatever is happening at school, or in general, you’re gonna kick it’s ass. I know for a fact.”

“You think so?”

“I know so! Out of all my kids I can easily see you becoming a fighter of some kind. You used to body slam Baekbeom like a sumo wrestler all the time as a toddler, it’s only a matter of time.”

The two laughed and ate desert while exchanging funny stories they remembered of Baekhyun as a kid.

\- ♡ -

Minseok and Minghao linked their arms with Baekhyun and playfully swung them around in attempt to cheer him up.

“No one even commented that it was you, Baek. Don’t worry.”, Minseok insisted as they walked down the hallway.

There was no was staring or weird looks given to Baekhyun so he took that as a good sign.

“Exactly, it looked like it could have been anyone.”, Minghao was the first to stop in his tracks when the three saw a crowd surrounding Baekhyun’s locker.

Baekhyun pushed through the students and parted his lips in shock, as if the week couldn’t get any worse. A picture of his and Chanyeol’s hot tub rendezvous was stuck to his locker with the words _'NEW BOY, NEW TROUBLE’_ and _‘it’s always the quiet ones!’_ underneath it.

“Oh God, no, no, no…”, Baekhyun pushed through the crowd to find the nearest bathroom while Minseok and Minghao ripped the picture off and started wiping at the black ink. He was sure he was about to throw up.

He bumped into a large figure and scowled when seeing who it was.

“Baekhyun, whats wrong?”

“I hope you’re happy, Chanyeol. You just let everyone think we had sex in the hot tub when you know we didn’t.”

Chanyeol looked extremely lost until Minseok shoved the crumpled picture to his chest.

“Gonna do something about this, Park?”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows drew together at the picture and spoke up before Baekhyun was out of his sight.

“Hey! Listen up, nothing happened in the hot tub. Not that you all should be concerned. If anyone talks about this or about Baekhyun, I’ll personally find you and kick your ass, got it?”

Some murmurs and scared nods were returned and Chanyeol ran after Baekhyun worriedly.

“Baekhyun, I’m so sorry this happened. I would never want something like this to get out, when I find who did this-“

“I know who did it, why don’t you?”

Chanyeol’s gaze darted from Baekhyun to the floor apologetically.

“I’ll talk to him, okay?”

Baekhyun shook his head stubbornly, he had to stop using Chanyeol as his shield when it came to Kyungsoo. He had to deal with this problems himself and on his own.

He was no longer afraid of Kyungsoo or what he might do. At least that’s what he kept telling himself as he stood before him in the bathroom later that lunch.

“Baekhyun, you’re standing very close to me.”

“Why did you post that video?”

Kyungsoo wiped his hands and shrugged, “Don’t know what you’re talking about. You should deal with the consequences of having sex in a public place.”.

“You know that we didn’t have sex.”, Baekhyun felt his anger subside and he couldn’t put his finger on it but he could have sworn Kyungsoo looked upset.

“You know, you’re not as innocent as you pretend to be.”, Kyungsoo accused, crossing his arms and Baekhyun felt something in him snap.

“Oh, and why’s that?”

“You know why. Chanyeol isn’t… as confident as people think he is. I’m not as tough and scary as everyone thinks. But you.”, he sarcastically laughed to himself, “You’re so not innocent, Baekhyun. You kissed the guy that I liked.”.

“Oh my god, you guys were broken up. You were dating this college guy so-“

“Before that!”

“What? When did I ever…”, Baekhyun closed his eyes and exhaled tiredly, “You’re still mad over that? We were thirteen!”.

“Yeah well you knew I liked him and you still kissed him.”

“It was truth or dare and, by the way you’re crazy, it meant nothing!”

“Well it wasn’t nothing to me! It was all everyone talked about after you moved and even now people couldn’t stop talking about you the second you got here. ”

Kyungsoo huffed and left the bathroom angrily, slamming the door and leaving Baekhyun stunned from the information he just took in. When he moved away Chanyeol told him that no one even remembered their kiss, that people moved on from it quickly. He wondered what reasoning he had for lying about that, it wouldn’t have mattered to Baekhun since he wasn’t around to hear the teasing anyways. He did understand why Kyungsoo would be upset over that, he and Chanyeol started dating a few months after Baekhyun moved so to constantly hear about the person you liked and their kiss with someone else must have hurt.

Turns out people didn’t completely forget about him and that he wasn’t as invisible as he thought.

\- ♡ -

“That’s the whole ordeal with Chanyeol. Now onto your letter, I owe you an explanation.”

Baekhyun handed Sehun a spoon and a bowl of ice cream, turning down the volume to whatever show Soo Ah was watching before.

“Well that was a rollercoaster. You know I was glad you called, it was either this or cut my neighbour’s grass.”

“You still do that?”

Sehun laughed and nodded, eating a scoop of vanilla ice cream. There wasn’t lingering tension between them anymore, Baekhyun even dared to say it was just like old times when they hung out after school on a Friday, the only thing missing was twelve year old Kyungsoo and Chanyeol on each end of the couch.

“Sehun, you were the first boy that I ever really liked. All the other letters were born out of a fantasy, apart from Chanyeol, but yours was based off of actually knowing you. They were never meant to get out, I wrote it so long ago and those feelings aren’t there anymore. I don’t see you in that way- Anymore. I’m sorry.”, Baekhyun nervously fiddled with the blanket on his lap.

“Baek, that’s okay. If you told me before I would have totally understood. I just saw you with Chanyeol and was confused, it must have sucked for everything to happen at once.”, Sehun comfortingly rubbed his shoulder.

“I didn’t really come to terms with it until everything with Chanyeol happened.”

“Right, Chanyeol.”

“Even though things weren’t completely real I felt like it was, it’s so weird because we’ve known each other for so long and he’s still the annoying guy that I see at every weekend.”

Sehun bit his lip hesitantly but leaned forward like he wanted to say something important.

“I guess you really don’t know why we stopped being friends when you moved, do you?”

Baekhyun shook his head, “No, what happened?”.

Sehun sighed and put his bowl on the coffee table, “Chanyeol and I both liked you. A lot. I started liking you around the time you were about to move and Chanyeol liked you way before that.”.

“What? Are you serious?”

“Yep. We had a huge fight after you moved, I told him that I liked you and then he said he also liked you too. I backed off because I saw that you two go way back and I thought I didn’t have a chance. But then he started dating Kyungsoo and even then I was too afraid to do anything about my feelings.”

The feeling of hope was blooming in Baekhyun’s chest, Chanyeol once liked him back. But he wondered if he still genuinely did anymore.

“I can’t believe this. But what about you, do you still have those feelings?”

“When you came back I started to again. But seeing you with Chanyeol, it just made more sense.”

The smile Sehun offered was genuine, Baekhyun felt like he won back someone very dear to him and he couldn’t feel more grateful.

“Baek, it’s obvious how you feel about him. Took you long enough, but why don’t you just tell him you miss him? You’d be surprised how much people were routing for you two.”.

“You know, everyone around here keeps so many secrets from me.”, Baekhyun mused, “But I don’t think I can. It was okay when it was fake but it’s not anymore, I don’t want to… lose a friend like Chanyeol. I’ve loved him as a friend, I don’t know if I’m ready to love him as something more.”.

Sehun nodded understandingly, a part of him hurt that he could have had his chance with Baekhyun but seeing him torn over his feelings for Chanyeol made him want them together for the sake of Baekhyun’s happiness.

The sound of small steps approaching caught their attention.

“Baekhyun, I have something for you. Please don’t kill me.”, Soo Ah interrupted by handing Baekhyun his hatbox which originally stored his love letters.

As baekhyun opened it he saw multiple little notes, he recognised them all being from Chanyeol with his scribbled handwriting and intricate heart sketches.

“Kitty, you saved all of these?”, he reached up and ruffled his sister’s hair before taking a note out and unfolding it.

“Mom asked me to put your uniform in the wash and I saw all these notes in your pocket, I thought you’d want to keep them.”

As Baekhyun unfolded the note he laughed as his eyes skimmed over the words.

_‘Dear Baekhyun,_

_Knock- knock. Who’s there? Your fake boyfriend. Oh wait, that’s me!_

_Good luck on your presentation in lit today, it’s fun getting to brag about (fake) dating a smartypants boyfriend._

_Love, Chanyeol’_

“God, who knew Park could be so cheesy.”, Sehun made a face as he read the note from the side. Soo Ah shushed him and urged Baekhyun to look at another one, this time he read it out loud.

_‘Dear Baekhyun,_

_Did you know that you pout in your sleep? I noticed it when we were driving home from the grocery store yesterday. You looked really cute today, the way you roll the sleeves of your blazer reminds me of the way you did when we made cookies in preschool. Remember how you used to scold me for not doing it too and my sleeves always got dirty?_

_Love, Chanyeol’_

Baekhyun couldn’t help the smile on his face, maybe he was just oblivious to how Chanyeol hinted at his feelings. The small slip ins of the little things he noticed when they were together were thing’s Baekhyun didn’t even realise himself.

“Looks like you’re not the only one that knows how to write a love letter, Baek.”

Baekhyun stood up abruptly from Sehun’s words and turned to Soo Ah, “Where are Baekbeom’s car keys?”.

\- ♡ -

_‘Dear Chanyeol,_

_I don’t even know why I’m writing this, I think what made me do it was the realisation I came to yesterday. I actually like(d) you. It was something I didn’t even know I felt for you at the time. It's so weird to me because every time I hear your name an image of your obnoxious smile appears in my mind and your obnoxiously loud laugh rings in my ears. You’ll always be the guy I’ve known since we were five and pushed me off the swing because I was ‘too short’ and you didn’t see me, well you weren’t even that tall when that happened._

_I know we agreed to never talk about it or mention it again but why, why oh why did you have to kiss me that summer when we were thirteen. In front of Kyungsoo, I still blame you for us not being friends anymore and for that reason exactly. You knew, I knew, I’m positive the whole nation knew that Kyungsoo liked you but you still kissed me anyways. You never took any of Tao’s dares seriously but you didn’t even think twice about kissing me in front of my best friend. Now, ex-best friend. A part of me still can’t forgive you for doing that, not because of my friendship with Kyungsoo since I’ve moved away now but for stealing my first kiss._

_First kisses are meant to be special but you ruined it for me, if you said no I would have said no too but everyone was staring at us. You made something I was looking forward to into something I wish I could forget, what a Chanyeol thing to do. Okay, that’s a lie. I don’t want to forget it because it’s still mine, but after that kiss I started to see you differently without even realising._

_You’re tall. It’s a nice thing to have when hugging people, I noticed sometimes when your family would leave our house and our parents expected us to hug goodbye, as the years went by you got taller and the hugs felt warmer. You also brag about stupid stuff like going to the gym, so what? Many people go to the gym, what makes you special? I remember when we went to the movies and were ordering food, you stood behind me and when I turned around I saw how big and somewhat muscular you are, I looked up and you were smiling like an arrogant idiot. That was the only time I thought all your ‘hard work’ at the gym paid off, I thought that was cool but I’d never actually admit it._

_You’re quite charming, in a way that everyone knows that you know you’re charming, so they agree and it only boosts your ego. You got more handsome and you stopped having that long hairstyle the first time you died your hair (God, what even was that!). You play sports and you have so many instruments in your room. You’re also currently dating Kyungsoo, at least now that I'm gone I don’t have to catch Kyungsoo’s death glares at school. I felt special when you took my suggestion and made your jersey number 61, I thought of it when remembering how many hearts were drawn on the Valentine’s Day card we made together when we were ten. You said there were 100 but I counted and it was 61._

_I don’t know what it is but these feelings started after seeing a side of you that I wasn’t used to. When I was upset that someone I liked apparently liked someone else, I sat on the bench outside my house heartbroken and crying as hard as I did when you pushed me from the swing. I wanted to laugh when I saw your confused face as you took out the trash from my house- probably something your mom made you do out of politeness. You didn’t say anything but sat next to me and just held my hand._

_No weird or corny jokes, just you next to me as I cried and you didn’t even know the reason why. It was the first time I cried in front of you and wasn’t between the ages of five to nine, but even when I stopped you didn’t let go of my hand. It was weird to see you like that, calm and not jumping all over the place or laughing about something stupid._

_I know I’ll only ever be Baekhyun who you’ve known since we were kids because our parents are close friends, I know you’ll never feel the same way. But you know what? I’m immune to you. I don’t feel the weird butterflies in my stomach and knees (don’t ask) anymore. If I ever kissed you again I can assure you it will only ever be in the situation where I’m being forced against my will to play the role of Snow White and you’re the Prince Charming._

_See you next weekend at dinner._

_Byun Baekhyun.’_

\- ♡ -

It was the first time Baekhyun drove without worrying about whether he’d hit the sidewalk or a pedestrian, although he did almost scrape the side of his neighbour’s car.

Loving a childhood friend felt strange and foreign, as if it might not be meant to be but at the same time so right that if you didn't give it a chance you'd regret it forever. It’s all that raced through Baekhyun’s head as he got out from his car, albeit he parked it horrendously, and strode to Chanyeol’s front lawn.

He wanted to abort mission when he saw Chanyeol watering the plants and look directly at him in shock.

“Baekhyun? Hey.”

“Hi.”

Baekhyun felt rooted to his spot.

“I came to tell you something.”

“Yeah?”, Chanyeol stayed where he was, keeping the distance in case Baekhyun was still upset with him.

“I… I drove here.”

“Really?”, Chanyeol raised his brows, “That’s great, congrats.”.

“Thanks. Okay, bye!”

“Woah, woah, woah.”

Baekhyun’s heart was beating fatally fast as Chanyeol jogged over to close the distance between them.

“Is there anything else you wanna tell me?”

They looked into each other’s eyes and somehow it felt familiar but in a new way. Baekhyun’s shy smile was different from what Chanyeol was used to, but he knew he definitely wanted to see it more often.

"I know that Kitty told you I helped send the letters, and I am so sorry. I just wanted to help you get out of your comfort zone, I know it was wrong but... When we were sending them I got to the last letter and my name was on it and-" 

“I like you, Park Chanyeol. And not in the way that I have to because we always go to each other’s houses, and not in the fake way either. I guess that’s all I wanted to say.”

Baekhyun was about to leave but Chanyeol stopped him, holding onto his arm and turning him around.

“Don’t I get to say something too? Baek, I went to Kyugsoo’s room that night to tell him that whatever was left between us was over. Also.”, Chanyeol held up his wrist to show his silver bracelet.

“Still mine, always will be. I actually… I’m in love with you Beakhyun. I have been for the longest time. It’s always been you.”

The way Chanyeol looked at him was like he caught a star that fell from the sky, a look so fond that Baekhyun would have teased him if he weren’t too busy blushing.

“You’re what?”

They laughed under their breaths before Chanyeol leaned down to steal a kiss. Baekhyun stopped him by holding onto his shoulders gently.

“Wait, how are we gonna do this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what do you put in a contract for a real relationship?”

Chanyeol chuckled and shook his head, “Nothing. No need for a contract. We just need to trust each other, like we’ve always done.”.

Baekhyun comfortably wrapped his arms around his shoulders, liking the way Chanyeol’s large hands naturally found their place on his waist.

“You gonna break my heart, Byun?”

“Hm, I don’t plan on it. You gonna break mine?”

“Wouldn’t even dream of it.”

It was the first kiss they shared where both had established feelings, the first time Baekhyun didn’t fight back his feelings. Chanyeol felt like a part of him was complete in officially having the person he’s been in love with for the longest time finally in his arms.

Going over to each other’s houses for dinner was something they definitely looked forward to, especially since it would be one of the many times they would see each other anyways.

\- ♡ -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you got to the end thank you so much, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. I'm considering starting the sequel already but we'll see. Stay safe everyone ♡


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